Being the cynical sort I am, something tells me there’s an underlying meaning or a double entendre at play here.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will pass out bars of Zest soap at the Kansas Speedway media center this weekend in an effort to “clean up the media.”

But this is no typical bar of Zest that you can pick up at your favorite grocery store.

Au contraire.

Or as late comedian John Pinette, who entertained at several recent NASCAR post-season awards banquets was famous for saying, “Nay nay!”

As the press release announcing the promotion stated, media members will receive “an authentic No. 17 car-shaped Zest soap bar … a one of a kind bar of soap and can work throughout the weekend with the peace of mind that comes only from being ‘Zestfully Clean.'”

“Cleaning up the media center was such a huge hit last year,” Stenhouse said. “We thought we would bring back some more Zest car bars since the factory is right down the road from the track (about 11 miles away).

“With this being a night race, the media will need that extra perk that comes from being ‘Zestfully Clean’ all day.”

Again, maybe it’s my cynical side, but I have to wonder how many media members have surreptitiously sniffed parts of their bodies, like their underarms, to see if they’re odiferous.

Or is Stenhouse perhaps giving the media a secret message: that it stinks!